Ministerial Meeting in the framework of the Structured Dialogue on Justice

20.07.2017.

Banja Luka, 20 July 2017

The citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina have the right to an independent, impartial and efficient judiciary that fights serious crime, especially organised crime and corruption, effectively. Rule of law is at the heart of the European integration process.

Since 2011 in the framework of the Structured Dialogue on Justice, the European Commission has been facilitating discussions on the reform of the state level judiciary, in particular regarding the coordination of criminal jurisdiction between the state level and other levels of governance.

Today, the Ministerial Meeting of the Structured Dialogue on Justice discussed an EU Member States experts proposal for the new Law on BiH Courts that would ensure legal certainty and effective functioning of the judiciary in line with the EU standards and the domestic legal order.

We welcome the readiness of the participants to work towards an agreement on criminal jurisdiction, on the basis of article 83 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, which includes serious crimes such as terrorism, organised crime, and corruption, among others.

The European Commission urges the authorities to provide political support to this process in order to reach a final text of the draft Law on BiH Courts that can be submitted to legislative procedure, without further delay. The Commission stands ready to review the final proposal once agreed at political level to confirm its compatibility with European standards.